KOENIG & BAUER PRESS SALES UP

Press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer saw its revenues for 2023 hit the upper end of its guidance, as it revealed it was budgeting up to €10m (A$16.65m) for its drupa spend.

Koenig & Bauer will be one of the two biggest exhibitors at drupa, along with HP, with a broad range of presses on display, but cautioned that the months in the run up to the sow may see a dip in orders, as printers waited to see what was going to be launched.

The 2023 figures for Koenig & Bauer were boosted by a mammoth order for its banknote presses from the United States Bureau of Engraving, with the order intake at the company’s special presses division jumping by 37.1 per cent to €538.8m.

Sales for the group in 2023 were rose nearly 12 per cent to €1.33bn, at the highest end of its guidance, its EBIT of €29.9m was within the expected range.

Sheetfed press sales were up by 16 per cent to €779.8m, while EBIT leapt by almost 57 per cent to €29.8m. Order intake though slumped by a quarter, down to €606.2m, but the company said this was because all the post-Covid catch-up had now taken place.

Sales at its Digital & Webfed operation grew by 23.2 per cent to €172.3m,although its profits, measured in EBIT was hampered by start-up costs for new digital, flexo, corrugated products. The loss increased by €2.6m to €23.9m, however order intake at the unit was up 9.9 per cent at €179.8m.